Outdoor Lighting Techniques

Landscape Lighting beautifully illuminates your Home and Property while offering Safety, Security, and Night Time Enjoyment.

The first step in designing any landscape lighting system is to determine what you want the light to do for you. Take a walk around the property, look out your windows and doors to figure out what kind of mood you want. Look for possible focal points for a dramatic effect. Are you looking for safety, to distinguish the steps on a stairway or to highlight the edge of the driveway? Do you have any garden art you want to be able to see at night?

Types of Outdoor Landscape Lighting Techniques

Accenting
Any form of light that draws attention to specific details. By applying a remote light source with a very narrow beam pattern, an accent is embellished without an apparent source of light.

Architectural Lighting
Is used to illuminate unique elements of the structure such as a home or commercial building. It focuses on highlighting materials, architectural style, decorative elements, and the form and function of the building.

Deck Lighting
Lighting that is attached or fixed to a deck or outdoor structure to establish illumination. Deck & Dock style lighting incorporates illuminating the rails and edge of the deck but also the sitting surfaces and walkways. A well-lighted deck or dock will be the next backyard hit.

Down Lighting
Lighting from above may illuminate an area for landscape or architectural enhancement or special effects, and for safety or security.

Grazing
This technique accentuates the texture of the surface being illuminated. Simply place the light fixture close to the plane of the wall, fence, or other feature, and direct the light obliquely across its surface.

Hardscape Lighting
Is the practice of using light fixtures to illuminate hard areas in your landscape like patios, walkways, retaining walls, pool decks, and driveways.

LED Lighting
Energy Efficient, Long Life, Great Manufacturers, Long Warranties, Big Selections.

Moon Lighting
A soft, natural, diffuse effect similar to natural moonlight created by projecting light downward, with the light passing through leaves and branches to cast shadows on the ground below. This can also be combined with fixtures directing light upward to light the tree from below.

Paver Lighting
Can be installed either during construction or after, but it is best to do during. They have a rugged design that can withstand the load of cars and trucks. Used in patios, walkways, pool decks and driveways.

Pathway Lighting
Landscape lighting that is projected on a walkway from above or alongside the illuminated surface. This can be done for safety and security, as well as for aesthetic impact. This is commonly done with a fixtures placed along a path or walkway.

Security Lighting
Strategic placement of accent lighting fixtures, combined with low level illumination, provides security lighting without glare for areas of any size. This provides ease of navigation, and increase in outdoor safety.

Shadowing
A pleasing traditional effect in which the shadow of a tree, water from a fountain, or architectural element is cast against a wall or other surface by strong frontal illumination of the object.

Silhouetting
The backlighting of architectural elements, trees, or other objects so they stand out before a wall, fence, or other surface. This stunning theatrical effect is created by placing the fixture directly behind and below the object.

Step Lighting
Designed for safety, step lighting clearly illuminates the step area to insure proper visibility throughout the property.

Spot Lighting
Individual features are powerfully illuminated from above or below by a strong, narrowly focused beam of light. Examples of items benefiting from this technique are sculptures, statues, landscape features, architectural details, and flag poles.

Underwater Lighting
The use of submersible lighting fixtures in ponds, fountains and similar environments to create interesting and exciting lighting effects. These can range from spot lighting from beneath the water to soft, glowing area lighting of the subsurface environment.

Up Lighting
Architectural and landscape elements become visually dramatic features when illuminated from below. Fixtures may be camouflaged by the use of glare shields and louvers to hide the light source from the main viewing angle. This technique is the most common landscape lighting process in the Tampa bay area highlighting palm trees and structures.

Wall Washing
This technique creates smooth, even illumination of selected objects or large wall areas. Changing the light fixture spacing will create different effects.